Search
  1. Home
  2. Asia
  3. Myanmar

Burmese displacement continues unabated, report says

Despite signs of progress since the November 2010 national elections, the first in two decades, thousands of Burmese continue to be displaced Courtesy of the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People
Thousands have been displaced since the November 2010 national elections
    BANGKOK

    More Burmese have been displaced over the past year than in any other since 2002, the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), an umbrella group of NGOs working along the border, said in its annual survey released on 25 October.



    "It is a paradox that the current democratic reforms coincide with an escalation of conflicts and militarization, which made poverty worse," Duncan MacArthur, the TBBC emergency relief coordinator, told IRIN, adding that there was an urgent need for the country to achieve national reconciliation.



    "The main reason for poverty is armed conflicts, which restrict humanitarian access to the affected areas," said Saw Htooklei, secretary of the Karen Office of Relief and Development, a community-based organization working with internally displaced Karen people.



    According to the TBBC survey, at least 112,000 Burmese were displaced between August 2010 and July 2011. While some fled to Thailand and others returned to former villages or resettled elsewhere, more than 450,000 people remain internally displaced in the southeastern region.



    sh/ds/mw


    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join